Do you agree with the Best Brownie Mix winner? I would love to hear your favorites. What brownie mix do you stand by? I have to admit that I have always loved Ghirardelli and Betty Crocker Triple Chunk so I wasn’t too surprised. The beauty of it is that I had 20 willing judges who didn’t confer with each other. There were definitely clear-cut winners.

Along with the milk and dark bars, there are bite-sized ChocoPods, drinking chocolates, bonbons and truffles. For a real textural experience, try the vegan-friendly Ooh Ahh Almond bar. It blends dark chocolate and crunchy almonds that have been kettle-cooked in sea salt and sugar. Or heat things up with the Spicy Maya bar that fuses cayenne and pasilla chile with creamy dark chocolate. If you want to get in on the latest Chuao flavor, then you have to try Strawberry Waffle Wild, a mix of crunchy waffle bits, strawberries and milk chocolate.

Thankfully, with the availability of online chocolate stores, purchasing a delicious and wonderful chocolate gift only requires about 5 minutes of your time. Buying chocolate on the internet provides a quick and efficient way to select from a long list of great options that fit your budget and gift giving needs. Plus, you can do it from the comfort of your own home.
Chocolate and peanut butter is the killer combination many of us can't get enough of — so naturally, it makes sense to put every incredible Reese's bar together in this one variety pack, which includes 30 pieces of peanut butter chocolate. The pack includes Reese's peanut butter cups, Reese's sticks, peanut butter cups covered in white chocolate, Reese's filled with pieces, Reese's Pieces, and Reese's Big Cups.
Why they're cool: Look, normally these guys cost like a $1 each at the check out counter and I always want to grab the whole box but I can't spend $60 on a last minute craving. Have you had this happen to you? Well look no further because once again Amazon is the answer to our problem. This box of 60 Lindt's melt in your mouth truffles will only cost you 20 cents a pop! You're welcome.
Let’s be honest, all chocolate is good, but the true artisans make chocolate that transcends good---taking us into the realm of speechless. The chocolates featured in this story were tasted, debated over, and tasted again. If they delivered on impact, richness and the element of surprise, they made the cut. One final note, almost every chocolatier made a spicy chocolate offering—and only one, Chuao, pulled it off in a delicate, surprising (not punishing) way. Heat in a chocolate truffle can border on cruel sometimes. It was also nice to see that bacon and chocolate have parted ways--as we did not receive any pork-inspired truffles this year. Otherwise, it was a very nice showing. Happy indulging.
Chocolate Visions makes excellent chocolates with nice flavors. I tried The Works Collection and generally enjoyed both the pieces with familiar flavors and those with novel combinations. The Hazelnut Trio had an unusual structure that showcases its familiar flavors well. The spice was distinct in the Tarragon, quite unusual, and worked well with the chocolate.
Chocolate Apéritifs au Fromage is chocolate-covered cheese. That was an unusual combination, new to me. The flavors are balanced and modest, but the cheese prevails. The Boîte Gourmande contains plain square wafers of chocolate, Florentins (chocolate cookies, square wafers covered with a honey and nut confection), mendiants (chocolate disks topped with nuts and dried fruit), and chocolate sticks containing candied orange peel. All are good. These are little chocolate delicacies, to be savored. The dried fruit arrived still fresh and full of flavor.
MarieBelle sent unsolicited commercial email. Their shipping policy is bad. They pick the shipper and require expensive overnight delivery, charge $32 for less than two pounds, and deny responsibility if you do not stay home to receive the package. The web site does not offer a choice of pieces. My 25-piece box contained duplicates, so that only 14 flavors of the 27 depicted on the chart were in the box.
In addition, it performs very, very well, I dare say exceptionally, even among other similar cold-weather-leaning fragrances in the house that are generally strong, its dark juice selling its strength fairly convincingly. Its boastful projection of a few feet for at least a couple hours followed by a good scent cloud thereafter, suggests high value.
Methodology: To identify the best chocolate shop in each state, 24/7 Wall St. indexed ratings weighted by number of reviews for thousands of chocolate shops nationwide on Yelp and Google. To be considered, a chocolate shop must be in or near a city with a population of at least 100,000 people. In states with few or no cities of this size, chocolate shops in smaller cities were also considered. Ratings are the number of points given by Yelp and Google users out of a possible 5.
In France it was introduced from Spain in 1615, when infanta Anne of Austria, showed the chocolate drink to her new husband, the King Louis XIII. In Belgium, the Low Countries back then, the production of chocolates started in 1635 under the Spansh occupation. In 1657 a Frenchman living in London opened “The Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll“, a shop which sold the first tablets of solid chocolate, that were used to prepare this new drink. Chocolate became so popular that the British government taxed it heavily to the extent that chocolate had a price which was equivalent to two thirds of its weight in gold. Switzerland started to produce chocolate in the middle of the XIX century.
Craft chocolate has come a long way in a very short time with an explosion of North American small craft chocolate makers in the last decade (in 2006 there were approximately 3, now there are over 250). We are excited to offer an opportunity for our customers to explore craft chocolate in an honest way, avoiding traps of excessive packaging, unreasonable margins, and exaggerated hype. This is not a collection of all makers, it is a collection of the best bars from the best makers. We have samples to help you make the right selection, and can offer suggestions based on your taste and interests. We are very excited to have this selection of chocolate available, and hope that you will enjoy it!
#7: Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix — the reviewers agreed that this brownie mix created a dry brownie. It was hard and crunchy and even had an oily aftertaste. This calls for the most oil out of all of the brownie mixes and the reviewers could taste way too much oil. Most reviewers thought this was just an average brownie and nothing special.
Chef Michael Cappelli talks about his 40 years as a Hershey employee inside the Bear’s Den sports-themed restaurant in Hershey Lodge. Cappelli, who also runs Fire & Grain in Hershey Lodge, works the company’s signature chocolate into many food items such as scallops, barbecue sauce and salad dressing. “We’re constantly looking for new ways to incorporate chocolate into our menu,” he says. Wendy Pramik for USA TODAY

Assortments include gift boxes, baskets, and samplers, or you could order a chocolate of the month collection for a gift that lasts. Their blue bandana chocolate bars are made from beans sourced directly from the farmers, while the five-star bars are filled with nuts, caramel, fruit, or granola. And that’s just the beginning bars of this chocolate serenade.

Review: We have to start out by warning you, this chocolate is hella sweet. Whitman's is another Valentine's Day staple, which again, offers lots of nougat and caramel-y choices so we can see why it's popular. However, when you're spending so little on so much chocolate it's kind of a given that you're gonna get some sugary product. Also it's worth noting that our box didn't come with a sheet outlining the contents so in the words of one taster "you literally never know what you're gonna get."

If you are looking at this product and reviews, chances are you have already eaten a lot of dark chocolate. If you haven’t, this isn’t a great place to start given the cacoa content is so high (I found this out myself the hard way). I used to eat mainly milk chocolate, which is primarily sugar. I initially tried an 85% dark and despised it. I then worked my way up starting with like a 45%, then 60%, than 72%, then 85%, then 88-100%...which worked a lot better as my taste could adapt to the change (for better or worse [better for me as I need to watch my dietary intake and want the health benefits of dark chocolate], standard commercial milk chocolate is now so overly sweet to me that I cannot eat it.)

Top-quality chocolate from Africa? Chocolate with coriander and fennel? It all started when Italian chocolatier Valter Bovetti moved to Aubazine, France, in 1994 to debut his trademark chocolate candies shaped as nails and tools. In 2006, Bovetti and five fellow chocolate-makers visited Sao Tome, an African island in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Gabon called the "chocolate island," which inspired them to found a fair trade association named Roca Cacao. The organization bought harvesting equipment for twelve plantations and ensured a living wage for their 120 employees. Beans from this, the site of the first cacao plantation in Africa, go into Bovetti's high-quality Single Origin bars. The company crafts an impressive collection of more than 150 different kinds of chocolate bars, boasting ingredients like ginger and lavender petal, or for the truly adventurous, dried tomato and chili. Other savory-sweet products include Apéritif Chocolates featuring chocolate-coated fennel, anise seed, rosemary, coriander and mustard.
Patchi's mouthwatering chocolate features premium and all-natural ingredients, including the finest cocoa and fresh milk. The incredible packaging makes it even more irresistible. The company's chocolate menu features more than 50 varieties that incorporate roasted hazelnuts, pistachios, and almonds as well as orange peel and dried strawberry. The chocolate also comes in flavors like cheesecake, peanut butter, and cotton candy.

One of the house specialties at Fire & Grain is flatbread. Shown is the prosciutto and fig flatbread, which is covered with green onion aioli, prosciutto, figs and arugula, and drizzled with balsamic reduction and garlic oil. “I’ve been making this dough for more than 35 years, and we’ve perfected it,” says chef Michael Cappelli. Wendy Pramik for USA TODAY

When I spoke with Eric Case of Valrhona Chocolate, he made a point to differentiate filled chocolates from chocolate bars: “Chocolate and chocolates. Chocolate is something made from a bean, to give to someone that then creates a bonbon, or a confection, or a candy. ‘Chocolates’ are all kinds of things that happen to use chocolate in the ingredients, but they also have marzipan, toffee, nuts, or fruit.” Because of these additions, the shelf life of a quality box of chocolates is (generally) much shorter than that of a bar.
Once you select a category, it's easy to use the options on the left side of the page to narrow the chocolates down by price or by dietary need, such as nut-free or gluten-free. You'll find those same possibilities under the Dietary Treats heading; for example, if you know you need a list of just the products that are vegan or organic, you'll be able to see them all at once.
Since 2008, Original Beans has taken the “bean to bar” idea full circle with their “bar to bean” commitment to plant a seedling for every chocolate bar sold. Details of their Grand Cru Blend No. 1 80 percent organic dark chocolate are kept secret, but they claim to use some of the rarest cacaos from South America and Africa. And with only raw cane sugar added, the bars are also vegan.
Anchorage, Alaska, is known for its stunning views of the aurora borealis, and Sweet Chalet is known for its similarly remarkable aurora bonbons. Each bonbon is hand-painted, so no two are alike in their beauty. The appearance of the aurora bonbons is only half of their appeal; they come in unique flavors ranging from caramelized pear with saffron to raspberry rosewater.
Craft chocolate has come a long way in a very short time with an explosion of North American small craft chocolate makers in the last decade (in 2006 there were approximately 3, now there are over 250). We are excited to offer an opportunity for our customers to explore craft chocolate in an honest way, avoiding traps of excessive packaging, unreasonable margins, and exaggerated hype. This is not a collection of all makers, it is a collection of the best bars from the best makers. We have samples to help you make the right selection, and can offer suggestions based on your taste and interests. We are very excited to have this selection of chocolate available, and hope that you will enjoy it!

If you still want a classic chocolate chip cookie, the Salty Sweet version uses thin slabs of chocolate that layer throughout giving each bite the perfect dough to chocolate ratio. But don’t stop there. We loved the Oatmeal Raisin cookies (“Best I’ve ever had” said one taster), the Dark Chocolate cookies (“Deeply chocolate without being too sweet’) and the Spicy Cinnamon cookies which absolutely live up to the name. Gluten-Free and Vegan cookie options are available too, and they are just as delicious as the classic versions.

My 2005 purchase in San Francisco was slightly underweight. The chocolate felt powdery to me. The Ground Orange Gianduja was good, with orange pervading the piece, and the Hazelnut Gianduja was okay. However, the Marzipan and Honey Crunch were lackluster, and the Buttercrunch Chip was a bit dry. The weight of my 2006 Palo Alto purchase was correct. The White Gianduja was pretty good, medium-strength hazelnut flavor with some crunch.
At their Brooklyn, New York, factory, the bearded brothers Rick and Michael Mast create fantastic single-origin dark chocolate bars that are wrapped in custom-printed paper and named after the sources of the cacao beans, such as Papua New Guinea, Moho River, Sambirano Valley, and La Red de Guaconejo. “They’re interesting, and certainly showcase the tangy, tropical, terroir-driven flavors of chocolate,” says F&W’s Kristin Donnelly. mastbrothers.com
Since 1997, this confectionery inside the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero has been putting artistic touches on their small batch yet exquisite chocolates, caramels, bars, sauces, fruit/nut mixes, and truffles. Their top-selling Fleur de Sel Caramels are covered in dark chocolate with a well-blended balance of salt and sweetness. For Valentine’s Day, their Hearts in Motion box provides a whole lot of lovin’—burnt caramel truffles embellished with Picasso-esque images. Grand Amour Box holds three layers of popular truffles like Ginger Heart, Piedmont Hazelnut and Force Noir.
However, it is the chocolate that counts here. Norman Love falls short. Although the pieces were visually great, quite polished, and perfectly executed, they did not use chocolate well. Perhaps a third had a good chocolate presence. There were quite good non-chocolate flavors, including peanut butter, pistachio, lime, and pumpkin. The Peanut Butter & Jelly was very good but not good enough to justify putting them in an expensive confection.
For those who don't eat animal products (or just prefer to stay away from dairy), these Amore di Mona vegan chocolates make a delicious and thoughtful gift. They're also free from gluten, wheat, soy, and peanuts, and they come in a 24-piece box complete with a bow. Best of all, reviewers say, it's "very high quality chocolate" and they "taste amazing!"
Exactly when and where the first shop specializing in chocolate candies (as opposed to hot chocolate) appeared in America is uncertain, but early examples include Pulakos Chocolates in Erie, Pennsylvania, dating from 1903; Fowler's Chocolates, which opened in Buffalo, New York, in 1910; Keystone Candies, a chocolate shop and soda fountain launched by Greek immigrants in Pittsburgh in 1914; and a Dutch-themed chocolate shop opened the same year in downtown Los Angeles.

The chocolatier, William Dean Brown, plays with a variety of flavors in the assortment. The pieces included Cappuccino, Apple Pie, Hazelnut, Grapefruit and Tarragon, Strawberry Caramel, and more. I regard the Apple Pie highly for execution of its theme; it contained an apple layer and a crumb layer that were faithful to the theme, but the chocolate had a minor role in that piece. Indeed, the amount of chocolate flavor in the assortment varied and was not always the star.

With traditions and recipes based in the Netherlands, Chocolaterie Stam makes some of the most exquisite chocolates in the entire United States, let alone Des Moines, Iowa. You can’t go wrong with any of their bonbons or truffles, which are so rich and decadent that you’ll think you’re truly in Europe. The corn-shaped milk chocolate with a hazelnut praline filling is the perfect nod to Iowa and is just as tasty as it looks.
MarieBelle’s chocolates have fun designs, but the flavors did almost nothing for me. The Swiss chocolate is a thin shell around the fillings and contributed little to the taste. Good ingredients were used, and the flavors, when I could detect them, were well done. However, even pieces I would expect to have prominent flavors, like the Pineapple or Mandarin, were weak. The Spices piece was good, and the Hazelnut Praline was good except for the slightness of the flavor. I could not recommend these at half the price, let alone the $100/lb. charged.

Zabar’s is as New York as it gets. Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas or New Years, Zabar’s bagels, deli meats, and pastries will put you in a New York state of mind. The Black and Whites are particularly fun to eat. Do you eat one side first then the other, or take an equal bite of both sides down the middle? I haven’t decided yet, so I’ll keep practicing.

Vosges Chocolate's exotic truffles are made from the finest ingredients offered around the world. Owner/Chocolatier, Katrina Markoff, personally chooses every spice, flower and chocolate that is flown into their Chicago kitchen. Markoff utilizes the original methods of French confectionery artistry which she learned during her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Zabar’s is as New York as it gets. Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas or New Years, Zabar’s bagels, deli meats, and pastries will put you in a New York state of mind. The Black and Whites are particularly fun to eat. Do you eat one side first then the other, or take an equal bite of both sides down the middle? I haven’t decided yet, so I’ll keep practicing.

Cake specializes in elegant gourmet cookies that would be right at home on the cover of a Martha Stewart magazine. The cookies and brownies are individually packaged so they remain ultra fresh. Topping it off is the lovely packaging that’s sure to impress anyone lucky enough to receive a gift from Cake. Thanks to its elegance we vote this as an ideal gift to send as a thank you, a client gift, or any occasion where a touch of tea room fanciness is in order.
We saved the biggest for last. Levain’s gourmet cookies push the limits of the definition of cookie. They have been described as “Molten Cookie Dough” for their barely baked middles that ooze with warm, sweet goodness. Weighing in at 6 ounces each they are the size of generous muffin tops. Each flavor is rich, buttery, super-decadent. We had the fun of standing in line to enter the teeny tiny New York store to order one of each flavor—Chocolate Chip Walnut, Oatmeal Raisin, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip. I was lucky to have a posse of eager tasters with me. The edges have a slightly crisp cookie texture that gives way to an interior of cookie/cake-y crumb. The cookie’s center is a barely baked oooey goooey celebration of sweet. This is not a cookie for the faint of heart.
Kollar Chocolate’s pieces show excellent technique: They have good flavors, the flavors are generally well expressed, the chocolate is good, and the pieces are attractive and physically well crafted. However, I did not get a great sense of depth of flavors or blending of them. By and large, the flavors in each piece seemed distinct from each other and did not combine to form an experience absorbing to the senses.

Woodhouse Chocolate has some very nice pieces; you should definitely visit when in St. Helena or even Napa. However, not every piece lives up to their price level, so be selective about your assortment. I found the shifting flavors of orange, cream, marzipan, and chocolate in the Fiori di Sicilia made it a fun experience, although its chocolate is a minor player. I particularly recommend the Pecan Caramel for an excellent pecan flavor, which mixes well with the chocolate, and the Peanut Croquant, again for a good medium-strong peanut flavor that mixes well with chocolate.

Because Jacques Torres is as serious about technique as he is about fun, it’s possible to walk out of one of his eight New York City stores without a pure, single origin bar of dark chocolate and a bag full of chocolate-covered Cheerios (the idea for which he had when a mother quieted her wailing baby with a handful of the cereal.) His 80 percent Porcelana cocoa bars are unusually sweet and silky for chocolate with such a high cocoa content, but Torres says the qualities of these rare, special beans allow him to ratchet up the cocoa without adding more sugar.

It is truly an honor and a privilege to work with a fundraiser company like World’s Finest Chocolate for our fundraising needs. The products they have to offer are always of the finest quality, making it easy for our students to raise needed funds throughout the year. World’s Finest Chocolate is a first class organization and one we are happy to partner with.”

Molly is a freelance journalist and social media consultant with degrees in international affairs and public relations. As social media consultant to the Western Balkans over the past four years, Molly divides her time between the American South and Zagreb, Croatia. She has written for OZY, Fodor's Travel, Lonely Planet and Teen Vogue among others while reporting from North America, Europe and the Middle East. Her work can be found at www.mmollyharris.com.

Baking Notes: I cooked every brownie mix for LESS time than listed on the box. I used cake testers to test the middle to make sure the brownies were done. Click HERE for an inexpensive cake tester. None of them reached even the minimum baking time listed on the box. My advice to you is to ALWAYS set the timer for less time than listed on the box. If not, you may end up with hockey pucks for dessert!

In 2012, Cluizel opened a second Chocolatrium; in West Berlin, New Jersey. (The only other American outlet is their Manhattan storefront.) Visitors to the European and American Chocolatriums are walked through the chocolate creation process and history of the Cluizel brand. They are offered a sneak peek into the Cluizel workshop, then feast on fanciful bonbons like caramel mushrooms, “cappuccinos” filled with coffee ganache and macarolats — macaroons with different flavored coatings and fillings.
Even if you buy this dark chocolate box for no other reason than the collectible red tin container (from legendary Parisian restaurant Maxim's), you won't be disappointed in the quality of this French chocolate — especially if you're a coffee enthusiast. Each individually wrapped candy consists of a gourmet dark chocolate with a heart of coffee candy. Each tin comes with 24 to 26 pieces, and it's an especially perfect gift for Francophiles or lovers of all things Parisian.
Subject = FABULOUS! I just received my July shipment, the Royal Palm box of Dark Signature truffles, and have to tell you that they are now my favorite chocolatier! The flavors are in perfect balance, the chocolates are not too sweet (so many dark chocolates have been ruined by over-sweetening). The quality is superb! Thank you for introducing them to me

Are you a frequent gift-giver? You may want to take a look at the Celebrations Passport: with a yearly fee of $29.99, it includes free shipping from a family of brands that include Cheryl's Cookies, 1-800-Flowers, and Harry & David. Otherwise, expect to pay quite a bit for shipping: for example, on a gift assortment that retails for $139.99, we were given a shipping cost of $18.99. You can see all of the shipping costs by clicking on the blue question mark icon as you begin the ordering process; delivery prices start at $4.99 and go up to 15% of your order total (for orders over $150).

When you step into Jacques Torres Chocolate, you feel as though you’ve stepped into a small European specialty store. Many customers compare the experience to the movie Chocolat. Jacques specializes in fresh, handcrafted chocolates. Eat them there, where cafe tables encourage you to sit, sip hot chocolate, and enjoy a freshly baked pain au chocolat — or take a selection home. Visitors often can see the chocolate goodies being prepared behind large glass windows. There are five Jacques Torres Chocolate shops in the city, plus one in Harrah’s in Atlantic City.
If you are looking at this product and reviews, chances are you have already eaten a lot of dark chocolate. If you haven’t, this isn’t a great place to start given the cacoa content is so high (I found this out myself the hard way). I used to eat mainly milk chocolate, which is primarily sugar. I initially tried an 85% dark and despised it. I then worked my way up starting with like a 45%, then 60%, than 72%, then 85%, then 88-100%...which worked a lot better as my taste could adapt to the change (for better or worse [better for me as I need to watch my dietary intake and want the health benefits of dark chocolate], standard commercial milk chocolate is now so overly sweet to me that I cannot eat it.)
Pastry chef Jacques Torres left Manhattan’s Le Cirque in 2000 to open his own chocolate factory. Torres now runs a chocolate empire that includes two production facilities, six NYC outposts and one in Atlantic City. F&W editors Kate Krader and Tina Ujlaki, resident chocolate experts, especially love Torres’s milk chocolate-covered Cheerios ($8.50) and caramel chocolate popcorn, an addictively salty-sweet snack. mrchocolate.com

With five café locations—including one at their factory—this chocolate company handcrafts signature treats that taste exquisite but also look exceptional. Their assortment of bars pep up traditional milk or dark choices with options like a Milk Chocolate Crispy Orange Brulee Bar, Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean, or even the Dark Chocolate Raspberry and Fennel Bark. The gourmet dark, milk and ivory truffles feature fun sweets like the Strawberry or Raspberry Love Bug and Cookies and Cream Cone. Caramels and toffees are touched with sea salt or vanilla, and gourmet hot cocoa mixes go from simple to spicy. A specialty line of liqueur truffles are derived from Oregon’s finest craft distillers. Plus, their tumbled chocolate balls taste of blueberry, hazelnuts, sea salt caramel and even a German roasted malted wheat berry used in beer making.

Presented in a stunning gold box, and then hand-tied using a two-tone gold and brown ribbon, the GODIVA Chocolatier 19 Count Classic Gold Ballotin will definitely bring a smile to your face. It is exactly what you need this festive season, and it comes in a 7.2-ounce box that contains up to 19 pieces. What’s more, the box has Godiva classics such as Dark Mint Medallion, White Chocolate Demitasse, and Milk Chocolate Embrace, meaning you will have a variety to choose from. The chocolate is produced by Godiva Company, which was established in 1926 and has vast experience.

On the other hand, the pieces from Whole Foods Market were not as impressive. The Elizabeth, Antoinette, and Madeleine were good. The Jeanett had a strong mint flavor that overpowered its white chocolate. The Sophie is marzipan with lemon, which is interesting. I wanted more marzipan, but it was good. Not everything worked. The Valentina is a chewy caramel with lavender. Lavender is aromatic, but that was distracting, and it did not contribute a pleasing flavor. The Patricia certainly had chili but was weak on tangerine. These were fine for grocery store chocolates, but lackluster for the price, $51/lb. The box has drawings illustrating the pieces, but I was unable to match several pieces to the drawings.

When you think of the best chocolates in the world, it’s pretty obvious to find the name of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in front of the eyes. The chocolatier was founded in 1996 by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. The company itself manufactures premium quality chocolates made of rich cocoa. The chocolate producer is located in California and is popular for its dark chocolate production.
See’s ($18 for 1 pound, available nationwide) was one of the value picks in our tasting lineup. Their chocolates tend to be bigger, enough for two bites instead of one, with a mix of dark and milk chocolate, around old-fashioned nougat and nut caramel fillings. While it got three strikes against it, it also got one third place vote. The assortment may be a nostalgic standby for devotees, but it can’t compete with the more boutique chocolates out there. Still, they were far and away better than Russell Stover.
We all know someone who can't stop snacking on chocolate. Can you really blame them? Snacking chocolate is the kind of can’t-stop-eating goodness that you need to keep stashed at your desk, in your purse, in the car, and anywhere else you can think of. Impress the snacker in your life with this decadent package that's filled to the brim with chocolate covered snacks. Each package comes with super nostalgic treats, from chocolate covered graham crackers and pretzels to mini-peanut butter cookies. Every treat is dipped in chocolate and has an addictive crunch to it. Plus, the addition of sweet cocoa to these crunchy snack foods will satisfy all of their sweet and salty cravings.
Erin Andrews started making chocolate nearly a decade ago from a small market stall; now, she presides over a sizable cafe and confectionary that specializes in single-origin chocolate bars. Indi’s chocolate bark and single-origin nibs are also on offer, as are body lotions and oils made from cocoa butter. Indi ships nationwide. 1901 Western Ave. Ste D., Seattle, WA
Unique flavors like Tarragon Grapefruit, Sesame Nougat, and Star Anise & Pink Peppercorn are part of the mix, as well as safer flavors like Burnt Caramel, Piedmont Hazelnut, and Candied Orange Peel (which is the best chocolate-covered candied orange peel you'll ever have). While unusual flavors can easily become gimmicky and overwhelming, Recchiuti has executed theirs perfectly with subtle, elegant, and rounded blends. This was especially apparent when compared with our previous pick, Christopher Elbow, whose perfume-y flavors almost knock you over.
Top chocolatiers generally work with couverture (first-rate chocolate containing a high percentage of cocoa butter) to make their creations, versus fresh cocoa beans, although an increasing number now experiment with bean to bar. Some makers even grow their own cacao beans. Direct contact between growers and makers is the best-case scenario for sustainable, or at the very least fair trade, chocolate.
NEW! Ceretto Barolo + Exotic Truffle Collection. For those who appreciate and collect Italian wines. Embark on a guided wine and chocolate tasting through the Langhe region of Piemonte home to Barolo, Barbaresco and the white truffle. Ceretto 2014 Barolo Red Wine is paired with our signature 9 piece Exotic Truffle Collection and nestled in a purple gift box. This is a classic Barolo - light garnet in color with Barolo's quintessential aromas of roses, tart cherries, and hints of truffles. Ceretto's Barolo DOCG is extraordinarily approachable, and it will continue to reward the patient wine drinker as it evolves over the course of several years. Included are guided tasting notes with which you can unlock the stories of each truffle parfum and discover the chocolate and wine pairing experience.